Flick says that Yamal’s misfortune at the end of the match against Atlético Madrid was due to missed scoring chances.
Published April 5, 2026
Lamine Yamal’s apparent anger at the end of Barcelona’s win over Atletico Madrid stemmed from his failure to score during an important La Liga match and had nothing to do with off-field events, the Catalan club’s manager Hansi Flick said.
The Spanish forward was visibly displeased in the final moments of a close game in Madrid and did not celebrate with his team-mates when Robert Lewandowski scored the winning goal in the 87th minute on Saturday.
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“He was a little angry,” La Liga boss Coach Flick told reporters after the match.
During the first half of a tense battle on the pitch, the 18-year-old hit the post with a shot after being handed the ball by Fermin López.
Minutes earlier, Yamal showed great control, skill and vision to receive the ball in his own half, move past an Atlético player and provide an open pass to López in front of goal, but the 22-year-old was unable to convert it into a goal.
“He (Yamal) tried his best but was unlucky in terms of scoring and delivering the last pass,” said the German coach.
“In the end, everything worked out.
“Of course he has emotions. It was an emotional game, but he is in the dressing room and everything is fine.”
Lewandowski’s dramatic late victory was celebrated by Barcelona players on the pitch and on the bench, but Yamal looked calm as he walked alone on the pitch.
When the referee blew the final whistle, Yamal walked past Flick, who tried to calm down his star player, and the two exchanged a few words before heading back to the dressing room.
Flick elaborated on his star player’s anger, saying Yamal’s reaction, or lack thereof, was “not because of the way he played, how well he played.” “At the moment he doesn’t have the luck of scoring goals, but that could come back.”
Yamal is at the center of an Islamophobia controversy in Spanish football after slamming anti-Islamic chants during his national team’s friendly match against Egypt in Barcelona on Tuesday.
At the RCDE stadium near Barcelona, the home of La Liga, Spanish supporters chanted “those who don’t jump are Muslims” during a World Cup warm-up match that ended in a goalless draw.
This is the latest in a series of similar incidents that have cast a shadow over Spanish football in recent years, with Real Madrid’s Brazilian attacker Vinicius Junior in particular suffering repeated racial abuse.
Yamal is a Muslim player whose father immigrated to Spain from Morocco. Following the controversy, he released a damning statement on Instagram.
“I’m a Muslim. Yesterday I heard chants in the stadium saying, ‘He who doesn’t jump is a Muslim,'” he wrote on Instagram after the game.
“I know I was playing on a rival team and it wasn’t anything against me personally, but as a Muslim it’s still disrespectful and intolerable.”
Yamal and Barcelona will return to action against the same opponent on Tuesday, hosting the fourth-placed Spanish team in the first leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals at Camp Nou.
This match will be another opportunity for the young player to increase his goal tally to 19 this season. He has scored 14 goals in La Liga and five in European competitions.
When asked about the next match, Flick said: “We have three days to prepare for the next match.”
“It’s a very important game. He (Yamal) will be in a better mood than after the game.”
